Holyrood will not pursue £128k spent evicting Indycampers

TOM PETERKIN

The Scottish Parliament has abandoned its attempt to recover £128,000 worth of taxpayers’ money spent on evicting the independence supporting campers who pitched their tents outside the Holyrood building.

The parliament was granted an order for expenses in principle by the Court of Session following the high-profile legal action to get rid of the “indycamp”.

A paper produced for the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB), the organisation that looks after Holyrood affairs, says it would cost a further £35,000 to take further action and that the likelihood of recovery was negligible.

Holyrood’s legal advisers estimated that, in total, the Auditor was likely to find that around £90,000 to £100,000 was due.

The paper also notes that nine respondents involved with the indycamp would have to be pursued.

A firm of Sheriff Officers and Messengers of Arms have assessed the financial position of the nine individuals and failed to identify “significant assets which would suggest that recovery action would be cost effective”.

It adds: “Indeed we are advised that the prospects for recovery are negligible”.

A Scottish Parliament Spokesman said: “The SPCB has a clear duty to use public funds prudently and therefore to seek to recover the cost of this court action where viable. However it has now become clear that the prospects for recovery are negligible. The SPCB has therefore concluded that it is not cost effective to spend further public funds in pursuing the matter.”